A Quantitative Inquiry Into Neoliberalism and the Far-Right

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2024-07-11

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en

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The far-right is making electoral gains and is increasingly becoming more influential in the European Union. Some scholars have pointed towards neoliberalism as a likely explanation for the electoral rise of the far-right. This thesis investigates the relationship between neoliberalism and the far-right. It does so by analysing the interaction of neoliberal economic structures in countries on the relationship of voters’ view of immigration, feelings of economic uncertainty and political distrust on voting for far-right parties. The interactive relationship is tested by quantifying neoliberalism and using Cross-Level interactions to identify whether the level of neoliberalism in a country impacts the effect of immigration, economic uncertainty and political distrust on voting for the far-right. The results give a mixed indication. A negative relation is found between the level of neoliberalism in a country and voting for the far-right, while a positive interaction is found between the level of neoliberalism and the relation of people who feel most insecure about their income on voting for the far-right. Therefore, further research is needed to build on the insights provided by this thesis to more fully grasp how neoliberalism interacts with voting for far-right parties in the European Union. The results also show a robust relationship between immigration scepticism and voting for far-right parties that is not impacted by neoliberal structures in a country. The findings also implicate that political distrust is not significantly related to voting for far-right parties.

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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen